The Australian skipper has executed superb back-to-back centuries to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a dominant comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just four days after her equally stellar 142 that defeated the Indian team at the identical Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and probably a little bit as captain as well tonight, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s run-chase as the duo added 202 runs followed perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
From the time data was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented Australia’s worst fielding showing at a World Cup tournament.
“Perhaps it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
This allowed the opposition to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat first, their best-ever total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was pleased to learn that the triumph, which puts her unbeaten side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Phoebe Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first tournament fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the fastest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her total to thirteen.
A batter's 44 and another's not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a team who had successfully pursued 330 against India four days before.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
